The Ministry of National Defence and the Region of Attica hosted an open 14.1 km race on Sunday, 21 October 2018 under the title “MEMORY AND HONOUR RACE: BLOCK 15 (HAIDARI CAMP) – KESARIANI SHOOTING RANGE“. This event is part of the activities and events under the title “ATHENS LIBERATED” on the occasion of 12 October, when Athens was liberated from Nazi occupation troops in 1944.

The starting signal was given by the Alternate Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas at 09:15 in front of BLOCK 15, the building holding those awaiting execution, in Haidari Camp “KARAISKAKI A” and runners finished in the execution area in the Kesariani Shooting Range, in front of the National Resistance Museum, following the route usually chosen by German trucks transporting resistance fighters to be executed. After the finish, the runners visited the execution area and laid flowers.

In total, 320 runners started and finished the race, including many military academy students and Armed Forces personnel.

The top three men are: Sergeant Konstantinos Drosos with 49:54, Georgios Roukliotis with 52:15, and Alexis Gorgoulias with 57:17.

The top three women are: Alexandra Panagiotou with 1:05:49, the Career NCO School student Antigoni Polychronidou with 1:07:45, and Marina Terzi with 1:09:28.

The technical support of the race was provided by the Secretariat of the Supreme Armed Forces Sports Council, in co-operation with the Region of Attica. The runners bore messages thrown by those sentenced to death from the German trucks printed on their bib numbers.

The starting ceremony in Haidari and the finishing ceremony were attended by the Alternate Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas, the Minister of Migration Policy Dimitris Vitsas, the Deputy Head of the Region of Attica for West Attica, Spyros Tzokas, the SYRIZA MP Giannis Balafas, the SYRIZA MP Hara Kafantari, the representative of Democratic Coalition Chrysovalantis Athanasiou, the member of the city council and head of the municipal party of Haidari “Polites se Drasi”, Theodoros Spiliopoulos, and others. The event was also attended by the Deputy Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Floros, representing the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, the Director of the Signals Directorate of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Major General Apostolos Pervolarakis, representing the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff, Major General (HAF) Theodoros Lagios, representing the Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Rear Admiral Ioannis Paxivanakis HN, representing the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Major General Panagiotis Ntziovaras, representing the Chief of the Hellenic Police, Aristomenis Syngelakis from the National Council for Claiming German Debt, and Lieutenant General (ret.) Dimitris Alevromagiros.

During the starting ceremony in Haidari Camp, the Alternate Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas gave the following address:

“Ladies and Gentlemen,

Friends,

This is the third consecutive year of this memory and honour event taking place in this historical place in Haidari Camp, which connects us like a golden thread to the history and the struggles of our people.

This event has now become an institution and will take place every year to honour those who gave their lives for the high ideals.

But also to be honoured, with our presence here and your participation in the race, by the magnanimity of those people.

With this race, following the path, the tracks of the resistance fighters as they were being led to their execution, we shout PRESENT at the roll call of historical memory and honour to those who shed their blood in order to water the tree of freedom.

The Haidari Camp, the imposing building of BLOCK 15, the 14 km path from Haidari to Kesariani are very heavily burdened, emotionally, historically, and politically.

This is where they breathed “the fragrant Greek air for the last time”, as Nikos Glezos wrote in the note he threw on the street while on his way to Kesariani.

This is where the 14 year old Andeas Lykourinos said “Don’t mourn for me! I am dying for freedom and the country”.

This is where Napoleon Soukatzidis refused to have his name removed from the list of those sentenced to death and have someone else executed in his place.

Dear friends,

History is a great school, whose students are the entire society and whose teachers are all those fighters, who gave their lives for the common struggle for freedom, social justice, equality, and fraternity.

We protect this monument with awe and respect in order to function as a great open school of history.

This is where one can be taught about true patriotism, democracy, and fighting fascism.

We can not and will not allow oblivion to give space for the revival of fascist and Nazi phenomena.

With events like this one, we contribute to the anti-fascist shielding of our society and mainly of the young generation.

During the Nazi occupation, from September 1943 until the liberation on 12 October 1944, the Haidari Camp functioned as a concentration camp.

Executions in Kesariani exceeded 700 and most of those executed had been in Haidari.

Over 21,000 prisoners have been here, among them the Greek Jews, who were transported from Haidari to Nazi concentration and extermination camps.

This is where 200 communist prisoners, known as Akronafpliotes, were held and executed on 1 May 1944 in Kesariani. They had been imprisoned in Akronafplia by the Metaxas dictatorship and then handed over to the occupation forces.

It is a dark page in our history.

We should not forget that Greek political prisoners were handed over to the occupation forces by the Hellenic authorities before they escaped to the Middle East.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The initiatives to promote historical memory by the Ministry of National Defence are not a typical activity, but rather connected to the very concept of National Defence.

Without historical and national memory, National Defence is essentially devoid of content.

Closely connected to historical memory is also the pending issue of German debt to Greece, which is an active claim.

An issue whose settlement must concern the German government itself, as an element of contribution to a democratic and peaceful Europe.

Runners,

Here, before they got on the German trucks, those sentenced to death would bid farewell to their comrades singing “farewell, cruel world” and the National Anthem.

Those of you who run will bear the messages thrown to the street by those sentenced to death, printed on your bib numbers.

Thank you all, have a good race!”